A MOTORCYCLIST who broke his back when he collided with a car has vowed never to ride again.

Chris James, 31, was badly hurt when a Ford Fiesta collided with him at the junction of Leazes Road and New Elvet in Durham.

The chef, from Witton Gilbert, who is married and has a seven-year-old daughter, was taken to hospital after the collision 5.25pm on Wednesday February 9.

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He said: “I had finished work and was coming down past the police station.

“As I was going across the road to the other bridge, all of sudden I got swept over by a car and that is all I can remember.”

Mr James said witnesses told him he hit a traffic light and was knocked unconscious.

Mr James was riding a Sym Jet scooter which he has had for less than a year.

He said: “I remember being surrounded by lot of people and paramedics.

“I could not move. I could breathe properly. It was terrifying and I was in a awful lot of pain. I did not get any pain relief until I got to hospital.”

Mr James was put on to a spinal board and taken to cut hospital where he was treated for a cut to his eyebrow, a fractured toe and fractures to his vertebrae.

Mr James said: “I am walking but it is really uncomfortable and I am in a lot of pain. “I am having a lot of nightmares about it. I get really horrible flashbacks and cannot sleep.

“The flashback I get is me going through the traffic lights and then there a massive ‘bang’.

“That is all I can remember of the accident because obviously I was knocked out.”

The scooter has been written off and Mr James has had to claim through own insurance, but he said the pay out is £600 less than he paid for the machine.

Mr James said: “This has cost me a fortune and I have not got anything to ride.

“I would not get on another bike again. It has terrified me so never again.

“I have got a family to think about. I don’t want to end up dead. It is not worth it.”

Police have been investigating circumstances surrounding the collision.

Mr James is now appealing for anyone with dash cam footage of the traffic lights at the time of the collision to get in touch with Durham Constabulary.

Anyone who can help can contact the force by calling 101.

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